Three Key Location Considerations for Elderly Expats

Expats who are reaching into their golden years need to take more into consideration when choosing their new home than those who are still in the prime of life, especially if they never intend to move back to the UK. Here are three vital considerations when you’re choosing your location.

Availability of Healthcare

One of the most important concerns for elderly expats is the availability of healthcare. You need to find a location that can provide reliable medical assistance. As well as a strong network of GPs, it’s good to look for a country that offers a high percentage of specialists who will be able to assist with any ongoing conditions.

Additionally, check that the area you pick in your chosen country is accessible for medical services. It won’t matter how good the doctors are if ambulances can’t get to you.

Flight Times Home

As you age, it becomes harder to sit in place for long periods. It can also put you at risk of blood clots, as well as potentially exacerbating conditions such as arthritis. Even though you’re settling in another country, you’ll want to make sure that you can get home relatively easily to see your family or for important events.

The duration of the flight from your new home to your old one is a factor, but you should also look for direct connections and make sure the route features airlines that will allow you to upgrade from economy to enjoy more room to move around.

The Local Crowd

When you move abroad, you’ll want to make sure you will be able to fall in with the local community and make plenty of new friends. In fact, retired expats seem to be better at this than younger ones; 49% of respondents who had retired told HSBC Expat Explorer researchers that they felt at home after six months, but only a third of expats aged 18 to 34 settled in so quickly.

Of course, you need to make sure that there will be a strong community for you to settle into. When you’re looking at potential locations, try to get a grasp of both the size and age of the local expat community. It’s no good finding somewhere popular that happens to be populated predominantly by those under 30.